History of the Miami Dolphins

[10] Ralph Wilson, one of the league's founding owners, had hoped to establish his franchise in Miami when he acquired his stake in 1959, but he was unable to secure a lease to a suitable stadium to host professional football games.

The Dolphins finished 12–2 after the 1973 regular season and repeated as NFL champions, beating the Minnesota Vikings 24–7 in Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in Houston.

After the disappointing defeat, several players, including Csonka, Warfield, and running back Jim Kiick, joined the short-lived World Football League.

After winning the AFC East division with a 10–6 record, the Dolphins lost the divisional playoff 34–14 to the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium.

After being down 24–0 after the end of the 1st quarter, Strock entered the game for an ineffective Woodley and engineered a frenetic comeback, which included the historic "Hook and Lateral" play, in which wide receiver Duriel Harris caught a pass from Strock and immediately lateraled the ball to the streaking running back Tony Nathan for the score on the last play of the first half, which cut the Chargers lead to 24–17.

The Dolphins finished 11–5 in 1992, capturing the AFC East title behind Mark Higgs having his best season as a running back and tight end Keith Jackson (acquired as an unrestricted free agent from the Philadelphia Eagles) leading the team in receiving.

Before the 2000 season, Dave Wannstedt, formerly of the Chicago Bears, became the new head coach, and ex-Jacksonville Jaguars backup Jay Fiedler became the new starting quarterback, even though Damon Huard had been considered the favorite.

[15] Despite lowered expectations, the defense broke through with Jason Taylor and Trace Armstrong each getting 10 sacks, and four players (Sam Madison, Brian Walker, Brock Marion, and Patrick Surtain) tallying at least five interceptions.

Despite it all, the solid defense kept them in it and they earned a wild card with an 11–5 record, finishing second in the AFC East title behind the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Still, Miami pulled off an impressive win over the Oakland Raiders and sat at 9–5 with two weeks left in the season, in prime position to steal the AFC East.

During a crushing overtime loss at the hands of the Patriots, Jay Fiedler was injured, forcing newly acquired backup Brian Griese to lead the Dolphins to victory the next week over San Diego.

The Dolphins fared better under Bates, winning three of their final seven games, including a 29–28 upset victory over the defending champion Patriots on December 20 in a nationally televised Monday Night Football contest.

Then Miami gained a measure of revenge against their division rival Buffalo Bills at home (24–23) with a late fourth quarter comeback engineered by backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels, Then the Dolphins pulled off an upset victory over the San Diego Chargers (23–21).

A win in Week 15 over the Baltimore Ravens ensured that the Dolphins would not have a winless season, but they dropped their last two games to finish 1–15, the worst record in franchise history.

Late in the season, two-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells was named Executive Vice President of the Dolphins football operations.

The Dolphins performed a 180-degree turnaround, aided by Sparano's offensive adjustments and by the fact that their rival New England (who had long dominated the division) lost Tom Brady to a leg injury on the season opener.

By Week 5, Chad Henne had suffered a season-ending injury, forcing Matt Moore, who had recently been acquired from Carolina, into the role of starting quarterback.

[26] In the 2011 season finale, other fans also raised money to fly an airplane banner over SunLife Stadium that said "Mr. Ross, save our Dolphins, fire Ireland.

Garrard originally won the starting QB battle against Tannehill and Moore in training camp, but injured his knee in a bizarre accident at home.

[citation needed] They started free agency by re-signing Brian Hartline, and added Mike Wallace, Dannell Ellerbe, Phillip Wheeler, Dustin Keller, and Brandon Gibson, but lost Long and Sean Smith.

[30] Two months after the Tannehill contract extension was announced, a study done by students at Harvard University used predictive analytics to try to determine the success of each NFL team for the upcoming season.

After a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins won 3 straight games against the Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills to clinch their first playoff spot since 2008.

[42] During the offseason, Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Tennessee Titans and numerous other players such as Cameron Wake, Danny Amendola, Andre Branch and Josh Sitton were released or allowed to become free agents.

[51] Miami drafted Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, tackle Austin Jackson, and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, releasing Josh Rosen following training camp.

Despite finishing the season with a 10-6 record, the Dolphins missed the playoffs after a 56-26 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 17, and after the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-14 that same day.

[52] Despite high expectations in 2021, Miami sputtered to a 1–7 start, losing seven in a row after beating the New England Patriots in week 1, with Tagovailoa struggling with inconsistent play and injuries at first.

Nonetheless, owner Stephen M. Ross fired Flores on January 10, 2022 in a surprise move, allegedly due to poor relationships with both the roster, particularly with Tagovailoa,[55] and the front office.

[56] On August 2, 2022, it was announced that following a six-month independent investigation by Mary Jo White and a team of lawyers, the NFL would strip the Dolphins of their 2023 first-round draft pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick for violating the league's anti-tampering policy on three occasions from 2019 to 2022 by engaging in impermissible conversations with quarterback Tom Brady and then-New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, both of whom were under contract with other teams.

[58] The Dolphins hired former San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Mike McDaniel as their new head coach and made a splash move in trading for former Kansas City Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill.

However, the Bills clinched the division by winning an "AFC East championship game" in week 18 that was flexed to NBC Sunday Night Football, as Miami was relegated to the sixth seed in the playoffs with their loss.